|
|
SATRAPS OF CARIA, Pixodaros.
|
Circa 341/0-336/5 BC. AR Didrachm (20mm, 6.94g, 12h). Pixodarus 11-47 (unlisted dies); Konuk, Identities 30; SNG Copenhagen 596-7. Obverse: Head of Apollo/Helios facing slightly right, wearing laurel wreath, drapery around neck. Reverse: Zeus Labraundos standing right. ΠIΞOΔAPO[Y] to right field. Good VF, toned, minor die rust.
Ex-CNG.
The Pixodaros Affair
Pixodaros was a satrap of Caria in south-western Asia Minor, the youngest brother of Maussolos, and a member of the Hecatomnid Dynasty who remained loyal to the Persian King. When Persia was in turmoil after the eunuch Bagoas murdered Artaxerxes III, in the midst of the confusion, Pixodaros decided in 337 B.C. to offer his eldest daughter’s hand in marriage to Phillip II’s son Arridaios as a diplomatic move. The pact was accepted. According to Plutarch, Phillip II’s wife Olympias and a number of Alexander’s friends conspired to convince Alexander that Philip intended to marry Arridaios to Pixodaros’ daughter as a prelude to giving him the Macedonian throne. Alexander felt that his father had left him out and decided to act on his own. He sent his friend, the famous tragic actor Thessalos, to Caria to tell Pixodaros that not only was Arridaios an illegitimate son of the Macedonian king but feeble-minded as well. To make sure that the marriage did not go ahead, Alexander offered to marry Pixodaros’ daughter himself. Pixodaros, of course, could not have asked for a better deal. When Philip found it out he was enraged and went to Alexander’s quarters and scolded his son for wanting to marry the daughter of a man “who was no more than the slave of a barbarian king”. The whole affair concluded with Philip canceling the Macedonian-Carian alliance and ordering Thessalos to be brought back to Macedon in chains, and exiled four of Alexander’s friends Erygius, Harpalos, Nearchos, and Ptolemy. Pixodaros died some time before the landing of Alexander in Asia Minor in 334 BC. He was succeeded by his son-in-law Orontobates, a Persian, who married the princess who was once supposed to have married Arridaios.
|
|
![SATRAPS OF CARIA, Pixodaros.
Circa 341/0-336/5 BC. AR Didrachm (20mm, 6.94g, 12h). Pixodarus 11-47 (unlisted dies); Konuk, Identities 30; SNG Copenhagen 596-7. Obverse: Head of Apollo/Helios facing slightly right, wearing laurel wreath, drapery around neck. Reverse: Zeus Labraundos standing right. ΠIΞOΔAPO[Y] to right field. Good VF, toned, minor die rust.
Ex-CNG.
The Pixodaros Affair
Pixodaros was a satrap of Caria in south-western Asia Minor, the youngest brother of Maussolos, and a member of the Hecatomnid Dynasty who remained loyal to the Persian King. When Persia was in turmoil after the eunuch Bagoas murdered Artaxerxes III, in the midst of the confusion, Pixodaros decided in 337 B.C. to offer his eldest daughter’s hand in marriage to Phillip II’s son Arridaios as a diplomatic move. The pact was accepted. According to Plutarch, Phillip II’s wife Olympias and a number of Alexander’s friends conspired to convince Alexander that Philip intended to marry Arridaios to Pixodaros’ daughter as a prelude to giving him the Macedonian throne. Alexander felt that his father had left him out and decided to act on his own. He sent his friend, the famous tragic actor Thessalos, to Caria to tell Pixodaros that not only was Arridaios an illegitimate son of the Macedonian king but feeble-minded as well. To make sure that the marriage did not go ahead, Alexander offered to marry Pixodaros’ daughter himself. Pixodaros, of course, could not have asked for a better deal. When Philip found it out he was enraged and went to Alexander’s quarters and scolded his son for wanting to marry the daughter of a man “who was no more than the slave of a barbarian king”. The whole affair concluded with Philip canceling the Macedonian-Carian alliance and ordering Thessalos to be brought back to Macedon in chains, and exiled four of Alexander’s friends Erygius, Harpalos, Nearchos, and Ptolemy. Pixodaros died some time before the landing of Alexander in Asia Minor in 334 BC. He was succeeded by his son-in-law Orontobates, a Persian, who married the princess who was once supposed to have married Arridaios.](albums/userpics/23765/pixodaros.jpg "SATRAPS OF CARIA, Pixodaros.
Circa 341/0-336/5 BC. AR Didrachm (20mm, 6.94g, 12h). Pixodarus 11-47 (unlisted dies); Konuk, Identities 30; SNG Copenhagen 596-7. Obverse: Head of Apollo/Helios facing slightly right, wearing laurel wreath, drapery around neck. Reverse: Zeus Labraundos standing right. ΠIΞOΔAPO[Y] to right field. Good VF, toned, minor die rust.
Ex-CNG.
The Pixodaros Affair
Pixodaros was a satrap of Caria in south-western Asia Minor, the youngest brother of Maussolos, and a member of the Hecatomnid Dynasty who remained loyal to the Persian King. When Persia was in turmoil after the eunuch Bagoas murdered Artaxerxes III, in the midst of the confusion, Pixodaros decided in 337 B.C. to offer his eldest daughter’s hand in marriage to Phillip II’s son Arridaios as a diplomatic move. The pact was accepted. According to Plutarch, Phillip II’s wife Olympias and a number of Alexander’s friends conspired to convince Alexander that Philip intended to marry Arridaios to Pixodaros’ daughter as a prelude to giving him the Macedonian throne. Alexander felt that his father had left him out and decided to act on his own. He sent his friend, the famous tragic actor Thessalos, to Caria to tell Pixodaros that not only was Arridaios an illegitimate son of the Macedonian king but feeble-minded as well. To make sure that the marriage did not go ahead, Alexander offered to marry Pixodaros’ daughter himself. Pixodaros, of course, could not have asked for a better deal. When Philip found it out he was enraged and went to Alexander’s quarters and scolded his son for wanting to marry the daughter of a man “who was no more than the slave of a barbarian king”. The whole affair concluded with Philip canceling the Macedonian-Carian alliance and ordering Thessalos to be brought back to Macedon in chains, and exiled four of Alexander’s friends Erygius, Harpalos, Nearchos, and Ptolemy. Pixodaros died some time before the landing of Alexander in Asia Minor in 334 BC. He was succeeded by his son-in-law Orontobates, a Persian, who married the princess who was once supposed to have married Arridaios.")
